CE4AMR joins the Quadripartite Working Group on Youth Engagement for AMR

This summer CE4AMR co-lead Dr Jessica Mitchell (University of Leeds) was elected to the newly formed working group on Youth Engagement for AMR. Set up by the Quadripartite alliance for AMR (World Health Organisation, UN Environment Programme, Food and Agriculture Organisation, and World Organisation for Animal Health) this working group is made up of 14 individuals from 14 different countries who represent young people and children’s perspectives on AMR. 

All working group representatives are in trainee and early career stages representing pharmacists, medics, and vets from across the world. Jess brings a community-focused and research perspective having led two funded research projects to co-design AMR educational materials for teenagers in Nepal. She has also run workshops for trainee conservation employees to learn about AMR and its environmental dimensions. Beyond research, Jess regularly delivers AMR educational sessions with both schools and voluntary youth groups across the North of the UK and rural Southwest Uganda. She is thrilled to be able to amplify the voices of young people on the topic of AMR through a formal mechanism.  

In early October the working group met face-to-face for the first time in the World Health Organisation (WHO) headquarters in Geneva. Here the 14 members got to know each other, brainstormed their aims and ideas for the working group and set out making speedy plans for a launch webinar in World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (WAAW).  Jess says ‘It was great to meet with other members of the group and hear about all the exciting AMR awareness and advocacy that goes on in so many youth-centred spaces. As a researcher interested in this field, I left feeling full of inspiration and new ideas. The working group also offers the opportunity for regular engagement with youth across countries, sectors and age groups which is really unique.” 

The group’s first webinar was held on Friday 24th November to coincide with the end of WAAW and attracted over 130 participants from across the globe. Now having established their presence in the youth and AMR space the working group is looking to the future with a long-term engagement and event plan cumulating in outputs which will feed youth perspectives into the 2024 High Level meeting on AMR, COP 28 and other world events. 

If you are interested in feeding into the working group for youth engagement on AMR, please feel free to contact Jess directly on j.mitchell1@leeds.ac.uk  

You can find more information about the aims and terms of the group below. 

Official Launch Statement: https://www.who.int/news/item/05-10-2023-quadripartite-launches-the-working-group-on-youth-engagement-for-antimicrobial-resistance  

Terms of Reference: https://www.fao.org/3/cc6098en/cc6098en.pdf